Carol Ann Herron

Carol Ann Herron, 81, passed away peacefully while I held her hand on Aug 16, 2021 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Carol was happily married to Dr. Robin Herron for 57 years until his passing last year. Her loving and talented daughter, Cara Herron, passed this summer. She is survived by her son Tim (Greenville, SC) and wife Carla. Carol is also survived by Joan Vierhout and John Frank, who she loved and laughed with over the years. Nana will be missed dearly by her two grandsons, Ben and Ryan Herron, who learned so much from her and Papa.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I received my entire life was, “I/we love your mother.” Time with Carol was fun, unique and memorable for everyone she met. She brought everyone together at family celebrations with Carla’s family and our overseas family.

I want to thank the many friends that filled her life with memories. For the last few decades, she was affectionately called the “Duchess” by an incredible group of women who will remain special to us. They described her so well -- classy, beautiful, articulate, creative and deliberate to a fault.

Carol graduated from Morton H.S. in 1958 and then attended the Julie F Burnham School of Nursing in Champaign, IL. During her training and while attending to patients she met Robin, a college athlete with an injury and a N. Ireland accent, they married in 1962.

Mom created incredible memories for both Cara and myself. Our parents exposed us to many cultures and experiences that I will be forever grateful for. They visited 5 of the 7 continents and immersed themselves in the culture at every opportunity. I remember seeing the beautiful and caring photos of her providing small gifts to the rural villages in Africa to mothers and children.

Carol was a “Soccer Mom” before the term was even created. She did it without a cell phone or email. I remember teammates saying, “can we ride with Mrs. Herron, she is funny!” She drove the highways of Texas with a CB radio to numerous tournaments for years and even to Canada to support our athletic endeavors, literally thousands of memorable miles.

Carol called Fort Collins her home after moving there in 1987. She always missed her dear friends on Kingsride Lane and throughout Houston, Akron and Champaign. She enjoyed hosting parties for friends, creating amazing flower arrangements for beautiful settings including the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron, book club wherever she lived (she was an avid reader!) and donating and shopping at the Arc Thrift store to help those with disabilities.

For several years Carol immersed herself in helping Cathy Weir at Creative Cards and the CSUWA to help design items to provide scholarships to CSU students and support projects that benefitted the university and local community.

The “Duchess” always did everything on her own schedule, as a result, both Cara and I were born on May 26th, seven years apart. Two nights before she began to leave us, she asked for her favorite dinner of oysters, “six eastern and six western”. I will cherish sharing that meal with her on her terrace and seeing her beautiful smile and sparkling blue eyes.

Memorials may be made to the Cancer Survivors Park Alliance, P.O. Box 9428, Greenville, SC 29604. Our family has been very involved in the development of the park and Carol wanted to continue the mission of the Park to provide a place of respite, rejuvenation, inspiration and education for individuals https://cancersurvivorspark.org/